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Dreams of flight People have always dreamed of taking to the skies and soaring with the birds. Birds have feathers and hollow bones making them light enough that they can fly. We have to fly using the power of our brains.
In 1783, three Frenchmen left the ground for 26 minutes in a hot air balloon designed by the Montgolfier brothers. The first non-stop balloon flight around the world was made by Brian Jones and Bertrand Piccard in 1999. Their balloon was made in Bristol. It was human ingenuity that led to flight in our species. By producing a wing of a particular shape, and making it travel through the air, humans were able to get airborne. Do plants use flight? Seeds from sycamore and maple trees are
shaped like propellers and spin as they fall from the tree. Spinning
creates lift, which slows their fall and lets them drift further. This
lets a parent tree spread its seed throughout a forest. Dandelion
seeds and thistles use parachute-like hairs so the seeds can fly in
the wind. |
